Casey's Plan
by history-writer86
Summary: Sammy was extremely nervous in Dead Giveaway. Imagine what Casey was going through during the stages of asking her out and doing all he did at the Farewell Dance.


**A/N: I keep getting random bits of inspiration, but I feel like no one is reading my work. This is something directly related to the books and I hope you guys like it enough to review it, please. And, I'm not used to writing from a guy's point-of-view, so the feedback will be much appreciated. I think I'm better at capturing Sammy way better than Casey. But I like this idea. If anyone wants to elaborate on it, go for it. Enjoy! **

_**Sammy was extremely nervous in Dead Giveaway. Imagine what Casey was going through during the stages of asking her out and doing all he did at the Farewell Dance. **_

_Disclaimer: I only wish I could invent a character like Sammy. Oh, and the lines taken from _Sammy Keyes and the Dead Giveaway _definitely do not belong to me, but Wendelin Van Draanen and Random House. _

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**Casey's Plan **

I don't think she understood the volume of the question I asked her, about how many hours I fretted over asking her once I heard on the Farewell Dance. When Danny told me about the limo, I breathed easier. She would say once she found out her best friend was going as well, at the very least, to keep an eye on Danny. Danny is a cool guy, but his slickness with girls bothered me and Billy. We agreed to ask a "friend", i.e. a romantic interest to the dance, leaving me with, well, Sammy and Billy with no one. He claimed that girls didn't "get him". I just laughed and wondered how to ask her. Finally, one day, I just sucked it up and waited outside her homeroom.

But she never showed.

My damn nerves didn't calm down. Where was she? Was she in trouble? Was she avoiding me? The day was agonizingly slow, especially since the school year was almost over. Even more so because I was finally, finally going onto high school. The next day, I decided to stake out her homeroom. Again. And this time, I saw Marissa and Holly running out of their homeroom. Marissa winked at me and my stomach went into knots. I turned around and there she was, looking perplexed and frustrated.

"Hey! I was beginning to think you were absent again," I said happily, praying my face was remaining a mask of calm. Just then, Heather exited the classroom. I told her off and pulled Sammy to a far corner of the building, trying to get my wretched heart to calm down. Facing her, I began to tell her about the Farewell Dance, the whole time trying to maintain a calm façade. It cracked, when she began to show her disinterest in dances.

"Look. I want you to go, and if you can't, well, I'm not into asking anyone else. I'll probably just bail on the whole thing," I finally said, giving her an ultimatum. I didn't understand her sometimes. How could she not know I liked her? I had told her when we had first met! But regardless, the nervousness was passed over to her now…as I waited for her answer. Finally, she opened her mouth to speak.

"Can't have you bailing on your own Farewell Dance."

"Are you saying you'll go?" I couldn't believe it! My crush was saying yes…to me. My heart skipped around happily in my chest, as a smile grew rapidly on my face.

"Are you saying I can wear my high-tops? I mean, you said it's casual right?" She smiled back at me, looking _excited _about going to the dance with me. I also couldn't imagine her not wearing her high-tops, or even a dress, even if she would look great in one. But it didn't match her personality, the personality that made me like her so much.

"You bet!" I must've been smiling like a fool when she responded, nearly just as happily as me.

"The sure. It sounds like fun, but I should warn you—I can't dance," I laughed merrily and told her I couldn't either. And since we had established our lack of dancing ability, I knew, I just knew how awesome this dance was going to be. It would my final stand at William Rose and I was determined to make an impact on one Sammy Keyes.

By the following week, I kept my focus on finishing the school year strong. I tried not to think of the impending dance, tried not to think of being in a dark gym with just me and Sammy…my mind generally went into overdrive when my head hit the pillow. I kept going through different scenarios of what could happen, of where are relationship would progress to next, despite my entrance into high school. Then, my mind starting thinking about what I could do for her at the dance. Two nights before the dance, I was listening to some music while I worked on some last minute homework, when a familiar, striking song came on my stereo.

_Maybe it's all been hard on you/Pushed up against the wall/Waitin' for the rain to fall. _

And I had part two of making Friday night special for Sammy. I took the CD out of the stereo and stashed inside my jacket, embedding my plan inside my head. I would write in her yearbook, we would dance and while she was distracted by Marissa, I would go to the DJ and request "Waitin' for the Rain to Fall", our personal favorite song, the song that would become ours. Now, if only I could get my heart to calm down…

The rest of the week flew by. I hung out with Billy a lot, just joking around and planning our backpacking trip at the start of the summer. Once school let out, Billy had a tendency to drop his more humorous side and we started talking, just about the past and different people in our lives. School pushed the dance to the recesses of my mind, until the hummer pulled up to my house in Sisquane.

Sammy and Marissa were our last stop, and until that point I had been doing fairly well. I joked around with the guys, anticipating the taste of summer. But once we pulled up to Marissa's house, everything seemed to slow down. My head got all foggy and my heart was racing. Danny reached forward and rang the doorbell, the chimes striking my nervousness to an all time high. The door flew open to reveal Marissa's high priced way of living. She seemed really…relaxed, calm, very much unlike how I was feeling. She was prepared, too, for ice blocking, which impressed me. Once Marissa exited the doorway, Sammy followed her out, rather quickly. Her dark brown hair framed her face, and her eyes were downcast. She was just as nervous as me.

"Are you okay?" I tried to catch her eye, a chance to look into her blue-green eyes. She just nodded, too hard, too quickly. I sighed mutely, cheering to myself, because this girl was with me tonight, despite out nervousness. This would quickly disspate.

Once we arrived at the dance, there was the passing out of yearbooks. Everyone laughed at pictures from the past year, especially the pictures of the play Billy and I were in, when we "caught the cod", better known as my sister. I glanced over every page, and then the signing of the books commenced. It was easy to write in Danny's and Billy's, just saying how awesome it was we got to hang out this year. Olivia's and Marissa's were pretty simplistic. Then, the book I had been dreading and waiting for wound up in my hands. I didn't even realize who's it was until I checked the name on one of the pages.

I took a deep breathe in, checking around me to see if anyone was paying attention to the significant book that lay in my hands. No one did. This was my chance. I had to get this right and I was scared out of my mind. The words were there, coherently in my mind, it was just a matter of getting them onto the page…

Sammy (_brilliant way to start, Acosta.)_ –

You're amazing! (_very clear-cut, end it with something good, man!) _

Love, Casey (_….)_

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Did I…?

Did I just write that?!! Just before I could even try and scratch out my deepest thoughts from the page, the DJ cranked up the music, telling us to put our books away. I handed Sammy's back to her, my heart pounding away in my chest. Marissa suggested we go put them away in our gym lockers. Once Danny, Billy and I got into our locker room, we all spilt up, having lockers in different areas. I opened my book, out of curiosity, to see what Sammy had even written.

Casey,

I really don't know where to begin with all this. I mean, I used to think you were bad news, you know, being Heather's brother and all, but really, this year would have been so different without you in it. I guess what I am trying to say, is thanks for everything. You are so different from anyone else I have ever met. Thanks for standing up for me, like at the New Years' Party or at my birthday (Heather's birthday too), especially when it could have gotten you in trouble…and for being calm, especially with the craziness surrounding me and Heather; for being patient, funny, protective…everything that you are.

I told you I'm bad at writing in yearbooks, right?

Arg! Gar! Have a good summer!

Sammy

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The ending of her signing didn't make much sense…she had gotten flustered with everything she had written, I thought. Did that mean…? Maybe the way I had signed in her book wasn't all that bad. I grinned to myself and went out to the dance floor. It took the girls awhile to get back, but once they did we started dancing.

Now, I don't know if I thought Sammy was kidding when she said she couldn't dance…I know I hadn't been, and man, we were terrible! But as terrible dancers, we made a big joke out of everything. And while we got the whole student body to dance to in a Russian line during a metal song, I snuck over to the DJ to request "Waitin' for the Rain to Fall". Once we caught our breathes after the Russian line dance, the DJ spoke.

"And now to bring it down with oldie-but-goldie request," The song began to play over the speakers and I glanced over at Sammy, her face in partial shock and happiness.

"May I have this dance, m'lady?" I asked, extending my arm out to her, my head spinning as I anticipated what would happen next.

"Aye, but watch yer feet, matey. Ye may need a peg leg by the time I'm done with yer," She said, laughing at her own response. I laughed to, pulling her gently towards me. I didn't know when I had gotten this courage around Sammy, but at this point it didn't matter. She placed her arms loosely around my neck, my arms around her waist and as we swayed to the song, we moved closer and closer together. And we didn't step on each other, we just danced in time to the music. This was going better than I could have imagined and when I pulled away from her a bit to look into her green-blue eyes, I knew without a doubt that this girl, Sammy, was pulling me under. I wanted to kiss her, so badly, but her look of panic kept me from doing that. She still wasn't ready, so, to lessen the tension, I pulled a move my dad had taught me. I pulled her out, spun her and twirled her back into my arms to dip her and I began to sing the rest of the song.

Her blush was priceless, but the tension was gone, all but forgotten. In due time, I thought, she would be ready. I had advanced our relationship beyond the boundaries of friendship and I knew she would not forget this first date anytime soon.

I definitely would not.

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**A/N: The pretty green button was invented for a reason…by all means; if this story repulsed you or got your heart racing with excitement and anticipation for Wedding Crasher, click the button. Or you don't have to. I just like knowing my stories are read. **


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